As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
One type of information handling system is a server which is a processor-based network device that manages network resources. As examples, a file server is dedicated to storing files, a print server manages one or more printers, a network server manages network traffic, and a database server processes database queries. A Web server services Internet World Wide Web pages.
In order to enhance security, some companies have standardized two-factor authentication on all servers and client systems. In such systems, users must have a physical card (a smart card) and its password (PIN number) in order to log into a system. In a network environment, where a user is or may be logging into a remote server, two-factor authentication presents a problem because the user is not physically present at the server system in which the authentication module expects the user to insert a smart card.
Currently, users access remote servers through a module referred to herein as a remote access card (RAC). Unfortunately, the RAC only redirects keyboard/mouse traffic during a console redirection session. Remote users cannot, therefore, log in to a server via RAC console redirection if two-factor authentication is mandatory.